ROCKAPELLA VOL. 2: From New York [RE-UP]

ROCKAPELLA
O grupo original era formado pelos alunos da Brown University, Elliott Kerman, David Stix, Sean Altman, e Steve Keyes, Stix deixou o grupo e foi substituído por Charlie Evett. Depois de ter cantado nas ruas de Nova Iorque o grupo foi ouvido por um produtor do programa de TV de Spike Lee, "Do It a Capella". Do programa para o sucesso, foi um pulo. Nenhum dos membros originais da Rockapella permanece no grupo. Maiores detalhes no texto adiante transcrito.
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ROCKAPELLA
Elliot Kerman and Sean Altman were students at Brown University. As members of High Jinks they practiced their group singing. After graduation, in 1986, they hit the streetcorners in Manhattan with school pals, Steve Keys and David Stix. They performed for fun and spare change at first, often in front of the Haagen Dazs on the corner of Columbus and 74th. At the time Sean's main gig was singing lead for his rock band, Blind Dates. Elliott sang in a jazz club at night. Steve was going for corporate. Stix left the group after a year to continue a career in the arts and was replaced by another High Jinks friend, Charlie Everett. Their repertoire focused on the close harmony of barbershop arrangements with some doo-wop added. In 1989 Charlie quit to continue a career in software design. After three months of auditions, Barry Carl was heard, loved and convinced to join. Barry had been a scholarship student at Julliard. A little bit later Steve decided to continue at Fordham Law School. Audition time again! Scott Leonard had just returned from Japan where he had been lead of a Tokyo Disneyland rock band and recorded a solo album. Sean and Elliot screened hundreds of high tenors and auditioned thirty of them. When they heard Scott it was a no-brainer. During 1993 Jeff Thatcher, vocal percussionist extraordinaire, often joined the group in live concert performance. Jeff had graduated from the Berklee College of Music and by 1995 had joined them for a short time. They then began serious touring in the Unites States and, of course continued their fabulous career in Japan. To the shock of those of us who have become big fans of Rockapella, Sean Altman left the group. He wanted to get back to his rock band roots (where's that guitar, anyway). His vocal parts have been taken over by Kevin Wright who sang his first solo in church at age two! In 2001, legendary bass singer Barry Carl retired and the group welcomed newcomer and formidable talent George Baldi as his successor. In 2004, Elliott Kerman hung up his pitch pipe and the soulful, one-of-a-kind talent, John J. Brown, was added to the group. So, take five natural singing talents of superlative capacity, add significant personal development in shows and all sorts of performance, put them through 295 TV shows and all the creative professionalism that requires, and you will begin to understand just why Rockapella is one of the best a cappella groups in the world today.

Members:
Scott Leonard (1991-present);
Jeff Thacher (1993-present);
Kevin Wright (1997-present);
George Baldi III (2002-present);
John K. Brown (2004-present).

Former members:
David Stix (1986-1987);
Charlie Evett (1987-1989);
Steve Keyes (1986-1991);
Sean Altman (1986-1997)
Barry Carl (1989-2002);
Elliott Kerman (1986-2004)

(By Singers.com - edited by CB)
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ALBUM COMMENTS
This CD is absolutely the BEST of the 5 Rockapella CDs I have. I love "Pretty Woman" and "Hounddog"...songs we have all heard before but NOT LIKE THIS! I can't help but find myself singing along in my car and my kids love the fun, upbeat tunes. GET THIS CD FIRST if you are an accapella and Rock and Roll fan. Any new CDs with older 1950's to 1960's themes coming out? Let me know!
By Peter Hitchens (Charlotte, NC)
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MINHA OPINIÃO: o formidável quinteto vocal ROCKAPELLA, contrariando quase tudo que se faz hoje em termos de arranjos vocais, tem muito pouco ou quase nada a ver com o Take Six. O estilo do Rockapella reúne técnicas de " barbershop", "close harmony" e o baixo - diferentemente do Take Six, segue a escola " doo-wop".
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ROCKAPELLA VOL. 2: FROM NEW YORK

TRACKS/FAIXAS
01 Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress
02 Zombie Jamboree
03 I Like You Vey Much
04 A Change in My Life
05 Crazy 'Bout an Automobile (Every Woman I Know)
06 When You Came
07 Just You, Just Me
08 Why
09 Bed of Nails
10 Fliptop Twister
11 Heart of Gold
12 Sixty Minute Man
13 Oh, Pretty Woman
14 Hound Dog
15 Tokyo Yo-Yo

ROCKAPELLA : Smilin' [Re-up]

ROCKAPELLA
O grupo original era formado pelos alunos da Brown University, Elliott Kerman, David Stix, Sean Altman, e Steve Keyes, Stix deixou o grupo e foi substituído por Charlie Evett. Depois de ter cantado nas ruas de Nova Iorque o grupo foi ouvido por um produtor do programa de TV de Spike Lee, "Do It a Capella". Do programa para o sucesso, foi um pulo. Nenhum dos membros originais da Rockapella permanece no grupo. Maiores detalhes no texto adiante transcrito.
-------------
ROCKAPELLA
Elliot Kerman and Sean Altman were students at Brown University. As members of High Jinks they practiced their group singing. After graduation, in 1986, they hit the streetcorners in Manhattan with school pals, Steve Keys and David Stix. They performed for fun and spare change at first, often in front of the Haagen Dazs on the corner of Columbus and 74th. At the time Sean's main gig was singing lead for his rock band, Blind Dates. Elliott sang in a jazz club at night. Steve was
going for corporate. Stix left the group after a year to continue a career in the arts and was replaced by another High Jinks friend, Charlie Everett. Their repertoire focused on the close harmony of barbershop arrangements with some doo-wop
added. The street corner gigs were strong enough to gain invitations to perform the songs to alleviate the ennui of the upper classes. That paid the bills while the group honed their skills in contemporary rock tunes and originals, dropping
the oldies and barbershop. Their first break was the Regis Philbin Show in 1988. Then Kathie Lee Gifford had them booked for Regis and Kathie Lee and they were national. In 1989 Charlie quit to continue a career in software design. After three
months of auditions, Barry Carl was heard, loved and convinced to join. Barry had been a scholarship student at Julliard, four years with the New York City Opera, performer in musical theater and done voice-overs for commercials. The new quartet did a demo at a studio belonging to friends of Sean featuring the rocking "Zombie Jamboree." That was the tune which propelled them to the Spike Lee & Company's TV special, Do It A-Capella. International audiences paid attention and one of that number was the producer of the incipient PBS game show for kids, "Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego." Rockapella was asked to write the theme song and perform in the show. At this point, Steve decided to continue at Fordham Law School. Audition time again! Scott Leonard had just returned from Japan where he had been lead of a Tokyo Disneyland rock band and recorded a solo album. Sean and Elliot screened hundreds of high tenors and auditioned thirty of them. When they heard Scott it was a no-brainer. Thus the lineup at the beginning of Carmen Sandiego was born. To this day they have recorded seven CDs in Japan and sell out major venues in that country where they are big stars. During 1993 Jeff Thatcher, vocal percussionist extraordinaire, often joined the group in live concert performance. Jeff had graduated from the Berklee College of Music and by 1995 had joined them for a short time. They then began serious touring in the Unites States and, of course continued their fabulous career in Japan. To the shock of those of us who have become big fans of Rockapella, Sean Altman left the group. He wanted to get back to his rock band roots (where's that guitar, anyway). His vocal parts have been taken over by Kevin Wright who sang his first solo in church at age two! Since then he's been lead singer in Broadway shows, off-Broadway shows, national tours and many national advertisements. The writing and arranging chores which were handled mostly by Scott Leonard and Sean have been taken over by Scott who is producing many of the tunes as well. In 2001, legendary bass singer Barry Carl retired and the group welcomed newcomer and formidable talent George Baldi as his successor. In 2004, Elliott Kerman hung up his pitch pipe and the soulful, one-of-a-kind talent, John J. Brown, was added to the group. So, take five natural singing talents of superlative capacity, add significant personal development in shows and all sorts of performance, put them through 295 TV shows and all the creative professionalism that requires, and you will begin to understand just why Rockapella is one of the best a cappella groups in the world today. They put on one of the best shows you will ever see. That same drive for perfection is reflected in their recordings.

Members: Scott Leonard (1991-present); Jeff Thacher (1993-present); Kevin Wright (1997-present); George Baldi III (2002-present); John K. Brown (2004-present).

Former members: David Stix (1986-1987); Charlie Evett (1987-1989);Steve Keyes (1986-1991);Sean Altman (1986-1997) Barry Carl (1989-2002);Elliott Kerman (1986-2004)

(By Singers.com)
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MINHA OPINIÃO: o formidável quinteto vocal ROCKAPELLA, contrariando quase tudo que se faz hoje em termos de arranjos vocais, tem muito pouco (ou quase nada) a ver com o Take Six. O estilo do Rockapella reúne técnicas de " barbershop", "close harmony" e o baixo - diferentemente do Take Six, segue a escola "doo-wop". BELEZA PURA!
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ROCKAPELLA:SMILIN'
Label: Winstar
Year: 2002

ROCKAPELLA:
Scott Leonard, high tenor
Kevin Wright, tenor
John Brown, baritone
George Baldi, bass
Jeff Thacher, vocal percussion

TRACKS/FAIXAS:
Shambala
Flamingo Sing
Here Comes The Sun
Off My Mind
Summertime Blues
Lazy River
Smile In My Heart
Dance With Me
No Doubt At All
Millennial Lady
Jenny Come Away
Surfin' Safari

ROCKAPELLA: MY GIRL

ROCKAPELLA : CHRISTMAS

ROCKAPELLA CHRISTMAS
Por ora vamos nos limitar a breve comentário sobre o disco postado, deixando a apresentação da origem, evolução, perfil e história do
Rockapella para a próxima postagem de outro álbum deste formidável grupo vocal americano "à capella".
Neste álbum o quinteto ROCKAPELLA capta o espírito do Natal e exibe sua grande categoria, e nos oferta notáveis arranjos, bastante criativos, com o uso de percussão vocal, harmoniosos blocos verticais, "pirotecnias" do baixo e belas linhas horizontais. Enfim: utilizam com muita competência, talento e critatividade toda a gama de recursos que os conjuntos vocais "pós-Take 6" passaram a incluir em seus arranjos. Ao lado de clássicos natalinos foram incluídas algumas composições originais do grupo. É mais um belissimo álbum de canções natalinas.
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ALBUM COMMENTS
One of our most favorite groups (who don't need any introduction, we're sure) graces this holiday season with a dozen songs which cover the entire spectrum of aural moods from past to present. Opening with a sweetly lilting "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" which captures the traditional spirit with only a touch of Rockapellan embellishment we proceed to a chatcherized (clever light vocal percussion), upbeat, Scott Leonard song which has one wondering just which year it became a big hit. It did, didn't it? It must have, it just sounds so familiar. We immediately are segued into an almost vaudevillian "Glow Worm/It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" medley. Through beautiful tradition and several of Scott Leonard's original compositions our heart strings are plucked to a fare-the-well. At the end of this grand recording we have Scott's "Hold Out for Christmas" which has only been released prior to this CD on one of the Rockapella Japanese imports.
Then are sent off with our harmony hats in hand by Barry Carl's unbelievable bass and Jeff Thatchers pyrotechnics on "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch." This seasonal recording will add a sparkle of joy to your holiday.

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Rockapella Christmas
Audio CD
Original Release Date: October 24, 2000
Label: J-Bird Records
ASIN: B00004WJDN

ROCKAPELLA IS
Scott Leonard, high tenor
Kevin Wright, tenor
John Brown, baritone
George Baldi, bass
Jeff Thacher, vocal percussion

FAIXAS / TRACKS:

01. I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
02. The Hope We Hold
03. Glow Worm/It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
04. Silver Bells
05. Christmas Without You
06. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
07. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
08. Winter Wonderland
09. The Christmas Song
10. White Christmas
11. Hold Out For Christmas
12. You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch

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